Pump



July 20, 1943. BJFJWILLIAMS PUMP Filed Dec. 5, 1941 2 Sheets-Shed 1 INVENTOR Hen/om? f MY/fams BY Patented July 20, 1943 UNITED STAT OFFICE p PUMP Benjamin F. Williams, Douglas, Application December 5, 19.41., Serial No. 4213789 6 Claims. (o1. KEV-1.523),

and economical to operate;

Another object of my invention-I isto provide a pump in which the majority of the mass rotates.

A furtherobject of my invention is. to provide a pump in which intermittently movable valves are unnecessary.

A further object of my invention. is to provide .a pump in which. wear in the mechanism issubstantially reduced.

An additional object of my invention. is to provide a pump in which the discharge is substantially continuous.

The foregoing and other objects. are attained .in. the embod ment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, in which 7 Fig. 1 is a cross-section on an axial plane of the pump. of my invention, portions being in elevation.

Fig.2 is a cross-section, the plane of which. indicated by the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Fig.3 is an isometric perspective viewof the rotor and vane assembly. part of the baffle being shown in section on a cylindrical'surf'ace- Figs. 4, 5, 6 and '7 are diagrams of the rotor surface developed, showing successive pumping positions of that and associated parts.

mechanism between the rotor and. the abutment member .c'an;.be provided so that. the abutment member is made, to fcllow'the contour of the groove as the. rotor is turned- While the pump of my invention can readily.

be embodied. in a number of. difierent practical forms dependingupon the particular conditions Fig. 8 is a cross-section, the plane of which is j channel extending continuously around the rotor,

The rotor also has a sinuous or irregular groove in the cylindrical surface which. groove is. interrupted by the channel- A. stator serves as asupport and-enclosure for the rotor having an internal circular-cylindrical. surface constituting a running fit with the rotor surface and being provided with a circumferential internal b-aflie which has a runnin fit with the. channel in the rotor. In the stator is an axial channel which pierces and forms an aperture in the baffie. ment member having a portion adapted to slide inthe axial channel, also has a portiondesigned to occupy a part of the groove. Inlet and outlet channels are provided in the statortocom- An abutthe abutment member andif desired, a driving of operation which it must meet, itis successfully embodied in. the exemplary form illustrated here.- inj fI n. this torm there, is provided a. stator '6 which-is a housing. comprised of a plurality of members, being chiefly composed of 'a central drum I and end plates 8 and 9-respectively which are secured to the drum by suitable fastening means. such as studs H- The stator so formed provides an enclosing. housing and likewise is ordinarily utilized toserve as a support by the provision. of feet t2. projecting from the drum T. Adaptedto be disposed withinjthe stator is a rotor, generally designated which usually comprises av driving shaft l4 passing through a sealing gland [5 from the exterior to the interior of. thehousing and therein being borne upon bearings H and I8 respectively mountedwithin the end plates 8 and 9. Secured on the shaft I4 is a pair ofrelatively thick circular discs l9 and 2 l. suitablyfastened together by through studs 22 or other comparable means andtogether defining a circular-cylindrical outer surface 23 which is off such adime'nsjio ni as to afford a very close running fitwith a corresponding circular-cylindricalinnerjsurface 2'4 within the stator. The surface 23 is continuous across the face of the rotor with two exceptions. one of which is a circumferenti'al channel 28 extending entirely around the rotor.

As another discontinuity in the. otherwise cir cular-cylindrical surface of the rotor, I provide a groove 29. This groove is substantially U shaped in. cross-section as shown in Fig. 1, although any appropriate cross-sectional contour can be afforded, and the directionot the. groove 29 is of an irregular naturev so that the groove interrupts or crosses. the channel 28-. Preferably, the groove 29 isof a sinuous. or undulatory character and can readily be made to correspond to a regular sine curve. For illustrative purposes, although it is also practically feasible, the groove 29 is shown as having various straight portions con nectedby relatively sharply curved junctions. Furthermore, the volumetric. capacity of the pump can .be increased by providing several grooves similar to the grove 29, of the same or different sizes... In any case, the important factor is that the channel 28 and the groove 29 mutually cross each other around the circumference of the rotor.

Designed to cooperate with the channel 28 in the rotor, is a baiile 3| which amounts to an interior fin or annulus preferably formed integrally with and internally extending from the interior circular-cylindrical surface of the stator, so that the channel 28 is substantially entirely filled by the bafiie 3| except for the necessary running clearance. In practice, the side walls and bottom wall of the rotating channel 28 run in very close proximity to the stationary top and side walls of the baffle 3|. The baffle is circularly continuous around the interior periphery of the stator except for an aperture 32 which results from the provision of an axial channel 33 out within the stator entirely across the central drum 1 and being extended into pockets 34 and 39 respectively afforded in the side plates 8 and 9. The axial channel 33 is provided for the purpose of accommodating with a close sliding fit a platelike abutment member 4| which has a slide portion 42 and 2; depending portion 43, the latter of which is of such a contour and size as to fit as snugly as possible, although to afford sliding movement, into the groove 29.

The abutment member 4| is constrained to axial sliding movement in the stator and hence defines with the walls of the groove 29, with the baffle 3|, and with the interior circular-cylindrical surface of the stator, chambers A and B which vary in size as the rotor is turned. Actually, two such varying chambers are provided, one on each of the opposite sides of the abutment member portion 43 so that the two chambers vary in size at the same time, one enlarging as the other one grows smaller. In addition, there is another chamber C of fixed volume not defined by the depending portion of the abutment member 43, but rather by that part of the groove 29 which is on the opposite side of the baffle 3| from the side on which the abutment member portion 43 is momentarily found.

In order to utilize the variable size chambers as pumping means, I locate in the stator and preferably in the drum portion thereof, an inlet boss to which is connected an inlet pipe 52 opening into an axially enlarged inlet port 53, one part of which is defined by the side wall of the abutment member 4| and another part of which is in communication at all times, being of suflicient width for that purpose, with Whichever portion of the groove 29 is adjacent to one side of the abutment member 4|. Likewise, there is provided an outlet pipe 54 connected into an outlet boss 59 forming part of the stator and enclosing an outlet port 5'! of substantially the same axial width as the inlet port 53, yet being partly defined by the opposite side of the abutment member 4| and being of sufficient width axially to communicate at all times with whatever portion of the groove 29 is adjacent the other side of the abutment member 4 I.

In the operation of this structure, successive positions of which are illustrated in Figs. 4 to 7 inclusive, rotation of the rotor in the direction indicated by the arrows in Figs. 2 and 4, causes the chamber B partly defined by the groove 29 and by the bafile 3| on the approaching side of the abutment member 4| continually to be decreased in size, thereby expelling the fluid contreating side of the abutment member 4|, is continually increased in size thereby receiving fluid from the inlet port 53 until such time as the entire portion of the groove 29 on one side of the bafiie 3| is entirely filled. This filled portion continues to rotate for part of a turn without any change in size, that is, neither decreasing nor intherefore the only part of the mechanism which does not partake of a pure rotary motion so that, except for the abutment member, the pump is completely in rotary balance. The abutment member, motion, depending upon the shapeof the groove 29, approximates a simple harmonic motion and by an appropriate contour of the groove the abutment member motion can be such as to produce relatively low stresses.

It is possible to drive the abutment member by contact with the walls of the groove 29, but Where great precision of fit is desired and'minimum wear of the fluid confining surfaces isimportant, I provide a driving cam 6| on'the' shaft I4 and cut in it a cam track 62 corresponding in contour to the contour of the groove 29. A stem 63 extends from the abutment member 4| and is provided with a cam follower 64 operating in the cam track 62. This driving mechanism appropriately moves the abutment member 4| within the groove 29 yet without frictional contact therebetween.

Sometimes, whether or not the external abutment member driving mechanism is used it is feasible to make the groove 29 of such a contour that its sides are respectively tangent to opposite sides of the channel 23 at opposite points in the circumference of the rotor. This has an advantage in that the depending portion 43 of the abutment member 4| does nothave to pass entirely through the baffle 3| but some portion of the abutment member is always supported by the baffle.

In general, therefore, the pump of my invention affords a substantially rotary pump providing for a positive displacement of the pumped fluid with the running parts substantially all in balance, and Without any independently'moving valves, resulting in a simple, economical and effective pumping apparatus.

I claim:

1. A pump comprising a rotor having a continuous irregular groove therein, said groove hav stator forming a closure for said groove, a bafile on said stator interrupting both of the side walls of said groove and forming a complete dividing wall across sa id groove at spaced points along said groove, an abutment member adapted to occupy part of said groove for substantially the full depth and width of said groove and to pierce said baffle, a fluid inlet to said groove adjacent one side of said abutment member, a fluid outlet from said groove adjacent the other side of said abutment member, said inlet and outlet being adapted to communicate with the groove on opposite sides of the baffle during rotation of the rotor, and means fo rotating said rotor.

2. A pump'comprising a cylindrical rotor having a continuous sinuous groove therein, said groove having a pair of uniformly spaced side walls, a stator forming a closure for said groove, a balile on said stator interrupting both of said side walls of said groove and forming a complete dividing wall across said groove at spaced points along said groove, said baflie having an axial aperture therein, an abutment member adapted to occupy part of said groove for substantially the full depth and width of said groove and to slide through said aperture, a fluid inlet to said groove in said stator on one sideof said abutment member, and a fluid outlet from said groove in said stator on the other side of said abutment member, said inlet and outlet being adapted to communicate with the groove on opposite sides of the bafiielduring rotation of the rotor.

3. A pump comprising a cylindrical rotor having a continuous sinuous groove in the cylindrical surface thereof, said groove having a pair drical surface, said rotor having a continuous of uniformly spaced side walls, a stator having a running fit with said surface and constituting 9 T a closure for said groove, a bafile on said stator interrupting both of said side walls and forming a complete dividing wall across said groove at spaced points along said groove, said bafile having an axialaperture therein, an abutment member adapted to occupy part of said groove for substantially the full depth and width of said groove and to slide through said aperture and "fluid conducting means communicating with said groove on opposite sides of said abutment member during rotation of the rotor.

4. A pump comprising a rotor having a cylindrical surface, said rotor having a continuous sinuous groove provided with a pair of side walls and a circumferential channel intersecting both sinuous groove provided with a pair of side walls and a circumferential channel intersecting both along the groove, said stator having an axial channel piercing said battle to provide an aperture therethrough, an abutment member adapted to slide in said axial channel and through said aperture, said abutment member having a portion occupying part of said groove for substantially the full depth and width of said groove, and fluid conducting means opening into said groove on opposite sides of said-abutment member'during rotation of the rotor.

6. A pump comprising a rotor having a cylindrical surface with a continuous sinuous groove therein provided with a pair of side walls, a stator enclosing said roto and having an axial channel therein, a bafile on said'stator extending into said channel and interrupting said side walls and forming a complete dividing wall across the groove at spaced points along the groove, an abutment member slidable in said axial channel and having a portion occupying part of said groove for substantially the full depth and width of said groove and means independent of the camming action of said side walls on said abutment member for sliding said abutment member on rotation of said rotor to follow the c'onfigura-.

tion of said groove and fluid conducting means communicating with said groove on opposite sides of the said abutment during rotation of the rotor.

. BENJAMIN WILLIAMSi 

